Home-invasion shooting investigated

Stephen Curran

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

Metro Police were investigating what they believe was a botched home invasion robbery early this morning that left the alleged intruder dead and in a separate incident a man shot an alleged trespasser in the chest.

Officers responded to the Adobe Villas apartment complex in the 3500 block of East Lake Mead Boulevard near Pecos Road after a 34-year-old shooting victim at University Medical Center told hospital personnel he had shot a would-be robber in his apartment this morning, police said.

The shooting occurred between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. after the alleged intruder entered a second-floor apartment, Homicide Sgt. Clint Robison said.

There apparently was a violent struggle in which furniture and other belongings were damaged, Robison said. The resident was then shot twice before he killed the intruder, he told police.

The apartment resident's injuries were not life-threatening, and he was recovering this morning at UMC.

Neither his name nor the intruder's were released this mornning.

Detectives are looking into whether the two men knew each other, Robison said. Evidence indicated the resident was trying to defend himself, he said, and the resident is not expected to be charged with a crime.

"It looks like self-defense," Robison said. "But usually it's the other way (with the resident as the victim)."

Police believe another man may have been involved in the botched robbery attempt although no description or information about his alleged role was available.

Angel Mares, 18, watched this morning from her apartment two doors away from where the shooting occurred.

She said she does not know her neighbor, but the complex was frequently the site of violence.

"I hear a lot of fights," Mares said as she held her one-year-old son, also named Angel. "Someone is always fighting. It's crazy. That's why I'm leaving."

A second shooting this morning, also apparently a case of self-defense, occurred in a mobile home park near Craig Road and Rancho Drive, police said.

A man living in a trailer heard noise outside about 6:30 a.m. and saw his former roommate trying to get into his tall backyard shed with a ladder, Officer Jose Montoya, police spokesman, said.

The resident, armed with a rifle, told his ex-trailer mate to leave the property, but the man refused.

The former roommate allegedly pulled out a knife and came toward the man, and the man shot him, Montoya said. The victim was in critical condition this morning at UMC.

Police had been called to investigate disturbances within the past few months between the two men at the trailer, he said. It's not clear if the shooter will face charges.

"Everything looks like it was self-defense," Montoya said.

Sun reporter Jen Lawson contributed to this story.